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June 15, 2010

I love trying new products, especially food products. I'm a big believer in samples. Everyone has their own opinion about what tastes good. That's fine. What would this world be like without variety? :)

For example, I can't stand the taste or smell of cantaloupe. Yeah, I know all you cantaloupe lovers out there are turning up your noses at me. {haha} But it's my personal preference. If you like it, fine. If I don't, fine. To each his/her own.

Same goes with artificial sweeteners. Some just taste better than others. Everyone responds to the taste and level of sweetness in different ways. To me, one packet of artificial sweetener is plenty enough for a small cup of coffee. Even too sweet, almost. But I have seen my brother open and spill 3 or 4 packets into that same coffee cup because that's the way he likes it. One packet isn't enough for him. Just watching him do that almost makes me gag{!} but hey, he's the one drinking it, not me.

So when I was offered the chance to try new Truvia natural non-caloric sweetener, I was excited. Artificial sweeteners to me taste...well, artificial. Truvia is made from rebiana which comes from the leaves of the stevia plant, so it's all natural. Stevia is a plant native to portions of northeastern Paraguay. It has been used to sweeten foods and beverages for more than 200 years. I wasn't exactly expecting a cane sugar taste, but I did expect more than an artificial sweetener taste.

I love my coffee in the morning! I usually use an artificial sweetener just to save calories, but often I'll use sugar just for the taste. When I opened my first packet of Truvia, I was delighted to see that it didn't look all powdery like artificial sweeteners, it actually looked like sugar, crystals and all. Great! I poured it into my cup and filled the cup with coffee. Oh, and a little cream too.

My first sip was... disappointing. Yes, I have to admit it. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, but this wasn't it. Hard to describe...like nothing I've ever tasted before. But definitely not like sugar or any other artificial sweetener I've ever used. There was an aftertaste that I found unappealing.

The packets are supposed to be equivalent to 2 teaspoons of sugar each, but I found that for me it was more like 1 teaspoon, so I had to use two packets to get the level of sweetness I prefer (which, as I said earlier, is one packet of artificial sweetener - I shudder to think how many packets of Truvia my brother would have added!!). And that meant that the strange taste was amplified as well. I added some hazelnut-flavored coffee creamer and that helped a lot to blunt the Truvia taste for me, but still it was not a taste I liked very much.

But that's just my opinion. Everyone has one.

So while I won't be buying Truvia to use as a coffee or iced tea sweetener personally, I can definitely see its usefulness in cooking. Truvia natural sweetener is safe for people with diabetes, because it has no effect on the glycemic index (it does not raise or lower your blood sugar). It is also kosher certified. And Truvia rebiana is safe. Government agencies in the United States and around the world, including FDA and the World Health Organization, have recognized its safety.

So if you are concerned with the artificial taste of artificial sweeteners but want a sugar substitute that is safe for diabetics, give Truvia a try. You might like the taste. I don't like cantaloupes, remember? :)

Truvia is available in boxes of 40-count ($3.99), 80-count ($6.49) and 140-count ($10.99) packets at the respective suggested retail price and you can buy it at supermarkets like Kroger, Publix, SuperValu, Food Lion, Stop & Shop, Giant and Martin’s. You can also buy it at Whole Foods, Wal-Mart, and Target.

Truvia rebiana is also used as an ingredient in foods and beverages at the store. Current products include:

Hundreds of new products are in development, and will be available soon.

I tried Breyers YoCrunch 100 calorie pack yogurt and LOVED it! It is sweetened with Truvia, so there you go. Maybe it's just me. Maybe I just don't like Truvia in my coffee. It seems to work fine for everything else, at least for me. But it's like anything else, I guess... some people like a lot of salt and pepper and some don't. I'm not a big ketchup fan, but my brother puts ketchup on everything from eggs to brownies.

I'm not kidding. That's my brother. I love him dearly but his "tastes" are definitely not my "tastes". So you'll have to decide for yourself if Truvia is what you have been looking for in a natural 0-calorie sweetener. You can get lots more information at Truvia.com.

~~GIVEAWAY~~

Luckily, you can try it for free because the Truvia people are going to give away one 40-count box of Truvia free to one of my readers!

Entering is easy. Please do the mandatory first step before doing the extra entries, or they will not count. I check each and every entry, and if I can't verify the entry, it will be deleted from the competition before I determine the winner through Random.org so please make sure you use the same username, name, and/or email address for each entry, or tell me how to identify you, otherwise the entry will not count. Thank you for adhering to these giveaway rules.

~~Mandatory~~

In a comment below, tell me how you would use Truvia.

Extra entries - please leave separate comments for each:

FIVE ENTRIES if you follow my blog with Google Friend Connect. (see sidebar)

THREE ENTRIES if you follow me on Twitter @tnshadylady leave your Twitter id.

DAILY ENTRY - Tweet this giveaway and leave a link to your tweet. Feel free to copy and paste:

FIVE ENTRIES if you get my email and/or rss feed. Tell me what email and/or reader you used. Five entries for each one.

FIFTEEN ENTRIES - Help me spread the word! Post this giveaway on your own blog or giveaway site or other social networking site. Leave me a link so I can verify.

Giveaway closes midnight CST Thursday June 24, 2010. Giveaway open to US residents only. (Truvia is not yet available in Canada - sorry!) Winner will be chosen by Random.org and notified by email. Winner will have 48 hours to respond, or another winner will be chosen. I will provide winner's mailing address to the sponsor, who is responsible for prize fulfillment.

Disclaimer: I was provided a sample of Truvia gratis in exchange for providing this unbiased review of the product. No other monetary consideration was involved, and my review was not influenced in any way.